Articles

Nursing Homes, in Bid to Cut Costs, Prod Patients to Forgo Lawsuits

There is a growing trend for the nursing home industry to write binding arbitration clauses into their standard contracts in an effort to reduce legal costs. Nursing homes have been adopting arbitration strategies in large numbers since a wave of large jury awards against them in the late 1990's. Arbitration can reduce the number of big punitive judements for neglect and wrongful death as each award is determined by an independent arbitrator and not a jury.

At Many Homes, More Profit and Less Nursing.  The New York Times September 23, 2007

Investors of nursing homes earn millions after dramatically cutting costs of 49 homes.  Half of the registered nursing staff was cut as well as many nursing supplies, activities for the residents, and many other services. 

One daughter of a resident says “They’ve created a hellhole.”  Her mother passed because a bedsore was infected with feces.

Carlyle Must Solve Problems in Manor Care Homes.  December 21, 2007

Carlyle Group owns Manor Care and must improve care for their residents.  Staffing must be increased and deficiencies must be addressed.  Advocates, regulators, and law makers are concerned about profit-driven private companies acquiring nursing homes and the effect on the fragile seniors.

An In-Depth Look at State Nursing Home Regulations

NHRegsPlus provides state regulations related to nursing homes.  This site can be used to: “learn about regulations governing a particular state, or learn about how a particular topic is handled nationwide, or consult federal regulations and codes.” 

Democrats Seek Info on Bad Nursing Homes

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a list of 54 nursing homes that were named the worst in their state.  Democrat lawmakers are pushing the Bush Administration to release the names of more troubled nursing homes.